About Us

Today, more than 650,000 small farmers throughout Malaysia cultivate oil palm. Families, communities and entire villages have been raised out of poverty and towards prosperity thanks to palm oil. It has increased incomes and decreased poverty, and allowed rural Malaysians to experience economic and social advancement for the first time in history.

This success story is at risk, because small farmers in Malaysia are under attack. Malaysian farmers and their families are under threat from EU regulations and NGO campaigns that distort the facts about palm oil and show no compassion for the life of the small farmer.

The European Union is now moving to ban palm oil under the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED). The EU’s action would put Malaysian farmers and communities at risk of renewed poverty.

Faces of Palm Oil tells the true story of Malaysia’s small farmers, and the benefits that palm oil brings to communities all across our country. Faces of Palm Oil will stand up and defend those small farmers who don’t have a voice in Brussels.

Small farmer facts:

Prosperity: The average Malaysian farmer cultivates between 4 and 40 hectares of land. Small farmers cultivate 40 per cent of all oil palm land in Malaysia. Palm oil provides income, food and hope for 650,000 small farmers in Malaysia.

Sustainability: Palm oil is the Earth’s most efficient and sustainable vegetable oil source. Palm oil is more efficient than any other oilseed, and uses less fertiliser and pesticides. Palm oil uses less land than both rapeseed and sunflower oils: a benefit for the environment.

Forest Preservation: Malaysia preserves over 55 per cent of land as forest cover, as recognised by the United Nations. This is an unparalleled environmental commitment; far in excess of forest protection in European Union countries.

Economic Impact: Palm oil accounts for 93,000 jobs within the European Union and contributes 6.4bn EUR to EU GDP, and 1.2bn EUR in tax revenues to EU Governments.

Faces of Palm Oil is fighting for the 650,000 small Malaysian farmers who are now in the crosshairs of baseless, distorted attacks coming from Brussels. Palm oil has been the livelihood of thousands of Malaysians, but the European Union wants to force them back into poverty by implementing a discriminatory ban.

Human Faces of Palm Oil

Faces of Palm Oil is a joint project of the National Association of Small Holders (NASH), the Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA), the Dayak Oil Palm Planters Association (DOPPA), and the Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (SALCRA) and the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) that seeks to advocate on behalf of Malaysian small farmers.